Burner for a heater

ABSTRACT

A heater for heating water including a burner having a pair of concentrically arranged porous ceramic wicks capable of permitting proper combustion of fuels and not being adversely affected by water and foreign matter.

United States Patent Kercher et a1.

[ 1 Apr.4, 1972 [54] BURNER FOR A HEATER [72] Inventors: Robert L. Kercher, Fabreville, Quebec; Dugald J. Telfer, Chomedy, Quebec, both of Canada [73] Assignee: Vapor Corporation, Chicago, 111.

[22] Filed: July 24, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 57,902

[52] U.S. CL. ..43l/328 [51 1 int. Cl ..F23d 13/12 {58] Field of Search ..431/7, 261, 262, 284, 302, 431/309, 326, 328, 329; 126/96 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,247,860 7/1941 Selby ..43l/284X 286,914 10/1883 Dimock et al. ..43l/328 1,529,821 3/1925 Wood ....431/328 X 3,061,000 10/1962 Moore ....43 l/284 X 2,194,208 3/1940 Moran ..431/328 3,531,229 9/1970 Berglund ..43l/328 X Primary Examiner-Frederick L. Matteson Assistant Examiner-Harry B. Ramey AttorneyJulian Falk, Chester A. Williams, J L, Marshall 1. Breen and Kinzer, Dom & Zickert [57] ABSTRACT A heater for heating water including a burner having a pair of concentrically arranged porous ceramic wicks capable of permitting proper combustion of fuels and not being adversely affected by water and foreign matter.

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAPR 4 I972 SHEET 2 [1F 3 INVENTORS ROBERT L, KERCHER DUGALD TELFER Y 8 MW ATTORNEY PATENTEDAP-R 4 i972 3,653 796 sumaurs INVENTORS ROBERT L. KERCHER DUGALD T FE BY mm. I

ATTORNEY BURNER FOR A HEATER This invention relates in general to a heater for transmitting heat to a heating medium such as water, and more particularly to a burner for a heater capable of providing proper fuel combustion and not being affected by water and other foreign matter.

The heater of the invention is especially useful in railway stock, where it is continually subjected to the elements of weather, although it may be utilized in other vehicles. Essentially the heater is one including an alcohol burner, and which is of the non-freeze" type.

Heretofore, burners for such non-freeze heaters have utilized fiber glass wicker, and it is well known that such burners require considerable maintenance cost, and they sometimes malfunction when subjected to water and other matter.

The present invention resides primarily in a burner for a heater which overcomes heretofore known difficulties and which is capable of encountering water conditions of extreme severity and maintaining operation consistently while reducing overall maintenance cost.

The burner of the present invention in overcoming the difficulties heretofore encountered, employs a ceramic wicking arrangement instead of the heretofore used fiber glass wicking. The ceramic wicking is porous and permits proper combustion of the fuel while being substantially immune to water and foreign matter. The ceramic wicking is partially impervious to water and functions as a dirt guard for the fuel feeders. It will also permit higher fuel volume if required, while aiding in the combustion of gases. Overall, the burner of the invention with the ceramic wicking material reduces maintenance cost.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved burner for a non-freeze heater that is primarily useful in connection with railway stock.

Another object of this invention resides in the provision of an alcohol burner having porous ceramic wicking which aids in the combustion of gases, which is partially impervious to water and functions as a dirt guard for the fuel feeders which will enable higher fuel volume, and which reduces maintenance cost.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts, in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view taken through a heater having the burner improvement of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the burner taken generally along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the burner taken along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the burner with parts broken away to show underlying parts and in particular to illustrate the pilot burner; and

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the inner and outer ceramic wicks for the burner.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG. I, a heater is shown which includes generally a burner according to the present invention, and a coil and coil casing assembly 11 wherein the burner generates heat that is directed through the coil and coil casing assembly and which is transferred to a heating medium such as water.

The coil and coil casing assembly 11 includes an outer generally cylindrical shell having a vertical wall 12 and a top horizontal wall 13 which coact to define a coil chamber 14 within which a suitable set of water coils 15 is arranged. An inner concentrically arranged heat reflecting shield 16 is spaced inwardly from the coil casing vertical wall 12, and outwardly from the outer surfaces of the set or water coils 15 for concentrating the passage of flue gases upwardly and around the coils to improve the heat transfer action. Adjacent the upper end of the coil casing, and through the vertical side wall, a stack 17 is provided for carrying off the spent flue gases. Suitable fittings are provided for passing water through the set of water coils, and for connecting the water coils to heat exchangers, wherein an inlet 18 is provided at the lower end of the coils and an outlet 19 is provided at the upper end. It should be recognized that no invention resides in the coil and coil casing assembly, and such is herein shown for purposes of illustrating the association of the burner of the invention with such an assembly.

The burner 10 includes a wick holding casting 20 mounted within a casing 21. The casing 21 includes upper and lower side wall sections 22 and 23, and a bottom wall 24. It will be understood that the burner 10 will be suitably mounted relative to the coil and coil casing assembly 11.

The upper and lower side wall sections, together with the bottom wall coact to define a chamber 25 within which the wick holding casting 20 is arranged. Essentially, the side walls are cylindrical in shape, wherein the upper section 22 is imperforate, while the lower section 23 includes a plurality of combustion air holes 26, The upper end of the upper section 22 is provided with an opening 27 through which the flue gases produced by the burner are directed into the lower end of the coil and coil casing assembly 1 1.

The wick holding casting 20 includes a horizontal wall 28 having inner and outer concentric channels 29 and 30 in its upper face which receive inner and outer ceramic wicks 31 and 32 respectively. The inner channel 29 is defined by an inner annular upstanding wall 33, and an outer annular upstanding wall 34, the latter of which coacts with a further outer upstanding wall 35 to define the outer channel 30. The base of the wick holding casting 20 includes a neck portion 36 that is provided with a tapped opening to receive a fitting 37 which is secured to the bottom wall 24 and thereby provides support for the casting within the casing 21.

Each of the ceramic wicks are annular in shape with essentially parallel upstanding side walls. The lower ends of the wicks include fuel channels or grooves 31a and 320 which coact with the upper face of the casting bottom wall 28 to define annular fuel passageways for permitting the distribution of fuel circumferentially of the wicks. The upper ends of the wicks are formed to increase the surface area, wherein a vertical section taken through one side of each of the wicks displays a conical formation. The upper end of the inner ceramic wick includes oppositely inclined surfaces 31b and 31c, while the upper end of the outer ceramic wick 32 includes oppositely inclined surfaces 32b and 320. The porous ceramic wicks are partially impervious to water and other foreign matter. The ceramic wicks are made of a homogeneous mixture of refractory grain and other refractory bonds fired to approximately 2400 F., and having a permeability of about 14.235 to 20.470 darcies.

Fuel is fed to the wicks by a plurality of fuel feeders 38 which are mounted in the horizontal wall 28 of the casting and in alignment with the fuel channel 31a of the inner wick 31. Fuel is transmitted to the outer wick 32 through holes 39 formed in the upstanding wall 34 of the casting: The fuel penetrates the wicking and then is distributed by the distribution channel 32a. Fuel passageways 40 are formed in the casting and are connected to a header 41 to which a fitting 42 is mounted for attaching a fuel inlet line 43.

In order to prevent the fuel level for the wicks to exceed a safe level, an overflow fitting assembly 44 is provided, and which includes an upstanding overflow pipe 45 received within a hole 46 formed in the outer wick 32. The overflow pipe 45 is connected to a conduit 47 which feeds the overflow fuel into an overflow chamber 48 formed in the neck 36 of the casting. From the chamber 48, the overflow fuel passes through a hole 49 formed in the fitting 37 and out to a collecting tank or the like. The height of the overflow pipe 45 within the wick hole 46 may be adjusted to whatever level desired, and it will be understood that when the level of fuel rises above the upper open end of the overflow pipe, it will be discharged through the overflow fitting assembly thereby preventing the fuel level from rising beyond a predetermined point.

During operation of the burner 10, combustion air is drawn through the combustion air holes 26 upwardly around the casting between the outer periphery of the casting and casing to mix with the fuel at the burning surfaces of the ceramic wicks. Suitable means (not shown) may be provided to control the amount of combustion air entering the combustion chamber in the presence of the wicks A pilot burner 50 is provided to facilitate lighting of the burner, and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the burner is associated primarily with the outer wick 32. To provide a suitable place for the burner, an opening 51 is provided in the outer wick 32. The pilot burner 40 includes a fiber glass wick 52 to which fuel is delivered. The pilot burner 50 is suitably secured to the burner 10, and controlled by a suitable regulator.

it will be understood that a pilot burner will normally operate continuously and suitable controls will be provided to control the feed of fuel to the wicks 31 and 32. As seen particularly in FIG. 3, a clip 53 may be provided to anchor the wicks in place in the channels of the casting 20.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention, but it is understood that this ap plication is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a heater including a coil and coil casing assembly through which heat may be directed over water coils to impart heat to the water carried by the coils, and a burner directly below said assembly for generating the heat, the improvement in the burner which comprises a burner casing, a casting arranged within the burner casing having a horizontal bottom wall the periphery of which is spaced slightly from the inner surface of the burner casing to allow combustion air to and outer inner an outer concentric channels in the upper face of said bottom wall, inner and outer annular porous ceramic wicks in said channels, the upper ends of said wicks having a generally triangular cross section when taking a radial section therethrough, annular grooves in the bottom ends of said wicks to facilitate the distribution of fuel circumferentially, means for feeding fuel to said wicks, means between said channels permitting fuel to flow therebetween, fuel overflow means for said wicks to limit the fuel level along the wicks, and combustion air inlet means in said burner casing below said bottom wall.

2. In a heater as defined in claim 1 and a pilot burner associated with one of said wicks.

3. In a heater as defined in claim 1, wherein said wicks are of a homogeneous mixture of refractory grain and other refractory bonds fired to approximately 2,400 F.

4 In a heater as defined in claim 1, wherein said wicks have a permeability of about 14.235 to 28.470 darcies.

5. In a heater as defined in claim 3, wherein said wicks have a permeability of about 14.235 to 28.470 darcies.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,653,7 6 Dated. April 4, 1972 ROBERT L. mom and DUGALD J. TELFEB It is certified that errors appear in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the Specification:

Column. 1, line 1 change "wicker" to -wicking--;

line 70, change "or" to --of--; Column 2, line 5-6 change "2O. +7O" to "28. fm";

In the Claims Column l, line '6, delete "and" and insert therefor -P line 7, delete "outer"; change "an to --and--.

The correction in Column 2, line %9, is requested to correct a typographical error and to render the specification consistent with Claims 4 and 5, which are correct.

v The other corrections are requested to correct errors made in printing;

Signed and sealed this lhth day of November 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. In a heater including a coil and coil casing assembly through which heat may be directed over water coils to impart heat to the water carried by the coils, and a burner directly below said assembly for generating the heat, the improvement in the burner which comprises a burner casing, a casting arranged within the burner casing having a horizontal bottom wall the periphery of which is spaced slightly from the inner surface of the burner casing to allow combustion air to and outer inner an outer concentric channels in the upper face of said bottom wall, inner and outer annular porous ceramic wicks in said channels, the upper ends of said wicks having a generally triangular cross section when taking a radial section therethrough, annular grooves in the bottom ends of said wicks to facilitate the distribution of fuel circumferentially, means for feeding fuel to said wicks, means between said channels permitting fuel to flow therebetween, fuel overflow means for said wicks to limit the fuel level along the wicks, and combustion air inlet means in said burner casing below said bottom wall.
 2. In a heater as defined in claim 1 and a pilot burner associated with one of said wicks.
 3. In a heater as defined in claim 1, wherein said wicks are of a homogeneous mixture of refractory grain and other refractory bonds fired to approximately 2,400* F.
 4. In a heater as defined in claim 1, wherein said wicks have a permeability of about 14.235 to 28.470 darcies.
 5. In a heater as defined in claim 3, wherein said wicks have a permeability of about 14.235 to 28.470 darcies. 